The sea will bring you home
by smaragdbird
Summary: Post-Enemy at the Gates. It's been two weeks since they landed on Earth. All they want is to go home to Pegasus. gen with a little implied, blink-and-miss Teyla/Lorne


After two weeks on Earth most of them begin to feel restless. Well, Rodney not so much but Teyla does and Ronon and John, too if he's being honest. After spending all those years in Pegasus Earth's just not his anymore. When he thinks of home these days he thinks about Atlantis, about an endless sea stretching out towards all horizons and the familiar cool feeling of the wormhole against his face when he steps through the gate.

Most people treat their return to Earth like an unexpected vacation but no one seems to doubt that sooner or later the IOA will send them back. Chuck visits his family in Canada, Woolsey goes out with some old friends and Lorne takes his team to meet his sister and her kids.

John stays. Ronon doesn't ask him why he doesn't visit his brother and Rodney and Teyla don't even know he has one so they can't ask.

Rodney seems to take it in stride. He has Jennifer and he has his work.

Sometimes John's jealous of him.

He finds Teyla outside, looking into the sky. Pegasus isn't visible from Earth and even the neighbouring Andromeda can be hard to find.

"We'll find a way to get you back", he promises her, hand on her shoulder.

She nods silently.

"They should do it soon or we'll lose any advantage over the Wraith we have at the moment", Ronon says, joining them.

"The IOA can be a bit short-sighted", John answers dryly. Ronon meets his eyes as if to say "a little?".

"We could always convince Radek to let us steal the city and fly it back on our own", John quips but it's only half a joke. Because that's exactly what he plans to do if the IOA won't let them go back soon.

Ronon nods almost imperceptibly.

"Major Lorne will kill you if you leave without him", Teyla tells him and smiles fondly.

"Wouldn't do to come back without Atlantis' best babysitter", John agrees, "but he's due back the day after tomorrow-"

"But Chuck isn't", Ronon points out.

"Okay, then we'll wait the rest of the week", John sighs, "Anyone else?"

"Mr. Woolsey might not look kindly upon us stealing the city", Teyla replies.

"I'll shoot him", Ronon answers a bit too cheerily.

Normally John would protest but at the moment he's more than ready to let Ronon shoot anyone that stands between them and Pegasus. They would probably be cut off from Earth again but they managed before and really, what's a little mutiny between friends?

"After Chuck comes back", John reminds him.

Lorne comes back and leaves right away again, offering to show Teyla San Francisco. She accepts and John's grateful for anything that might distract her from the 3 million lightyears between her and her son.

That leaves him and Ronon who seems to want to jump out of his skin ever since he was strong enough to leave the infirmary.

Since Ronon has no interest in a trip to Earth, he and John do what they always do when they don't want to think: they race, they spar, they swim.

"You could stay here", Ronon says one day, stopping when John's out of breath.

"And do what exactly?" John asks dryly because he knows how Ronon means it.

"Your brother…"But he trails off, starts again, "You left before."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know better then." If there's one thing John doesn't want to repeat ever again it's being in exile, from Atlantis and from Pegasus. Well, it's pretty much on par with having to watch Rodney and Ronon die or Ronon being turned into a Wraith follower or having his mind taken over and shooting Ronon, and really, looking at his list they've been through some serious crap during the last couple years.

"Good", Ronon says and slaps him on the back. "Race you back?"

John groans but does it anyway.

He visits Todd in the stasis chamber once. Jennifer and Carson haven't done much work lately mostly because no one has done much work since they landed on Earth.

John wonders if Wraith can get homesick. Doubtful since there's the whole feeding issue but he wonders if Todd, who never seemed much interested in Earth and more in finding a permanent place for the Wraith in Pegasus, would be as homesick as Teyla and Ronon and John, if he was not in stasis.

"We need to go back", he tells Woolsey, backed up by Ronon and Teyla, whose separation from her son can hopefully guilt Woolsey into giving in. Radek is there, too because as it turns out, he has been working and the Star Drive should work flawlessly now.

"I know. I'm trying my best", he sounds honest and a little frustrated.

"Technically we could leave at any time", Radek says with a slight shrug. "We'd be home before the IOA would notice we're gone."

"And what should I tell the IOA? That we accidentally turned on the drive and landed back in Pegasus?" Woolsey suggests with more sarcasm than John has ever heard from him before. Atlantis seems to rub off on him.

"Some of us had to leave our families behind", Teyla reminds him and Woolsey looks guilty immediately.

"Come on, Woolsey", Ronon leans forward with both hands on the desk, "You got us out of that trial, you can get us home."

Woolsey looks from John to Radek to Teyla and finally Ronon. "A week", he says, "after that I'm not responsible for what any of you might attempt to do especially out of motherly concern."

It's as good as a ticket home.

Teyla gives a heart rendering speech to IOA about missing her son but it's like trying to make stones bleed. The council is very vague about letting Atlantis go back to Pegasus, so when the week is over and all personnel are on board and accounted for, they decide to steal Atlantis.

Rodney powers up the drive while Radek monitors John in the chair. Carson flat out refused to do it a second time. Going by the excitement in Rodney's voice and Radek's grin, they're just as giddy about going home as John is.

It's over in less than ten minutes when John lands Atlantis gently on the Lantean Ocean.

There's a lot of cheering when John and Radek return to the gate room.

"I'd never thought I'd say this, but it feels good to be back", Rodney tells him, almost dazed.

The first thing they do is open a gate to New Athos for Teyla who's accompanied by Lorne, just in case of course although John's suspicions run in a completely different direction.

The next thing is the call to Earth which is mercifully brief. John tells them that they're back in Pegasus and Woolsey explains that he couldn't justify separating a mother from her child any longer. He looks suitably indignant as well as to make the IOA feel guilty.

"Hey Chewie", he calls Ronon, "want to find out if the beach's still there?"

Ronon grins back. "Hey, McKay, you're coming?"

"Hell, no" Rodney says horrified at the prospect of surfing, "There are too many projects that I left to Zelenka during the last weeks. Radek, come on!"

Behind Rodney's back, Radek glares at him and sighs long sufferingly.

Everything is as it should be.


End file.
